We need your help!

My collected recaps and reviews of season one, which first appeared on Innsmouth Free Press, are now up (with a few extras) on Kindle. The print version is also up, though the cover’s needing a little tweaking right now. I’ll be putting up corrections for the cover in the next day or so. Everything else looks good.

THE WITCH IS BACK – Dean (Jensen Ackles) falls victim to a couple of witches, sisters Jamie (guest star Jordan Clair Robbins) and Jennie Plum (guest star Elise Gatien), who manage to steal a powerful book of spells from the Winchester brothers. When Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean go after the book, they get help from a powerful and surprising ally when Rowena (guest star Ruth Connell), back from the dead, intervenes to assist them. Amanda Tapping directed the episode written by Steve Yockey (#1312). Original airdate 2/1/2018.

The CW’s midseason promo is up. If you blink, you’ll miss Sam and Dean at 0:10-12.

Warner Bros has announced details about the upcoming Wayward Sisters spin-off. As we already know, it will star Kim Rhodes (Jody Mills) and the rumor that Briana Buckmaster (Donna Hanscum) is in it was confirmed. Also starring will be Kathryn Newton (Claire Novak) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen), as well as new character Patience Turner (played by Clark Backo). Another new character, Kaia (Yadira Guevar-Prip), has been added to the main cast list. Kaia’s “gift” will be the ability to spirit travel.

The spin-off premise and new characters has been introduced via several episodes in season 13. Patience will be introduced in “Patience” (13.03), which also brings back season one character Missouri Moseley (who is Patience’s estranged grandmother and from whom Patience has inherited her psychic gift). The actual backdoor pilot will be “Wayward Sisters” (13.10). Donna will also get a major episode in “Breakdown” (13.11).

Star Kim Rhodes told EW that there’s a good in-SPNverse reason why the show will be set in a single location (Sioux Falls) instead of moving around. Rhymes with “Hellmouth,” I’ll bet. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion it’s to do with the rip between universes in that crappy old boat from 12.09.

The show is currently averaging a 0.6 in the demo, putting it second on the network and even with last season. Between this and the resurgence of Riverdale, the CW is the only broadcast network that has not dropped in average demo since last season.

The show had a repeat last week that came in at 0.2/1 in the demo (0.246 in the unrounded overnights) and 1.03 million in audience in the overnights. It was preempted by holiday programming during Christmas week.

Like this column? You can help keep it going by contributing monthly via Patreon (which includes perks), making a one-time donation through Paypal, or buying us a coffee.

Happy New Year Everyone!

We need your help!

My collected recaps and reviews of season one, which first appeared on Innsmouth Free Press, are now up (with a few extras) on Kindle. The print version is also up, though the cover’s needing a little tweaking right now. I’ll be putting up corrections for the cover in the next day or so. Everything else looks good.

TIME TO RETURN THE FAVOR – Donna (guest star Briana Buckmaster) calls Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) for help after her niece, Wendy (guest star Sarah Dugdale), goes missing. The three hunters discover Wendy was kidnapped by a man who sells human parts to monsters in a grotesque online auction and race to save her before it is too late. Amyn Kaderali directed the episode written by Davy Perez (#1311). Original airdate 1/25/2018.

Alexander Calvert gave an interview to Elle in which he talked about the fandom’s reaction to him, convention life, and the Instagram account he and his girlfriend have up for his very fluffy and adorable cat, The Lord Tyrion.

Set info is coming out about episode 13.14 (“Only the Best Intentions”), which began filming on January 2. Christian Keys (alt-Michael) tweeted a photo of himself with Calvert as they went back to filming in the new year (Calvert also tweeted about filming in a forest). This indicates alt-Michael and Jack will be in 13.14 and interacting in the same scene. It appears that alt-Bobby will also be in this episode, since Jim Beaver tweeted a first-look selfie the next day and mentioned filming with Samantha Smith (Mary) in mud (reportedly in Belcarra Park in Port Moody). She responded in the same thread by showing her alt-verse costume on the floor. Hmmm, could it be our alt-world cast are now in the SPNverse as of 13.14? Or in the Bad Place? Or do they get back in this episode, since there’s filming in the quarry that’s the alt-verse set this week?

Danneel and her husband will be opening up their new brewery, The Family Business, for … uh … business in Dripping Springs, TX on my birthday. And I’ll be stuck up here. Oh, well.

CW head Mark Pedowitz has re-upped his contract with the network. He also issued his annual “This show isn’t going anywhere until the leads hang it up” announcement. While he was cagey in a recent interview about making it official (because they’re not ready to announce show renewals), it’s highly doubtful the show won’t get a 14th season – and a full one, at that – unless Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles don’t want to return.

Supernatural alumnus Sterling K. Brown (Gordon Walker) won a Golden Globe award this week for best actor in his latest role in series This Is Us. He’d previously won an Emmy last fall for the same role.

Warner Bros has announced details about the upcoming Wayward Sisters spin-off. As we already know, it will star Kim Rhodes (Jody Mills) and the rumor that Briana Buckmaster (Donna Hanscum) is in it was confirmed. Also starring will be Kathryn Newton (Claire Novak) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen), as well as new lead character Patience Turner (played by Clark Backo). Another new character, Kaia (Yadira Guevar-Prip), has been added to the main cast list. Kaia’s “gift” will be the ability to spirit travel.

The spin-off premise and new characters will be introduced via several episodes in season 13. Patience will be introduced in “Patience” (13.03), which also brings back season one character Missouri Moseley (who is Patience’s estranged grandmother and from whom Patience has inherited her psychic gift). The actual backdoor pilot will be “Wayward Sisters” (13.10).

Star Kim Rhodes told EW that there’s a good in-SPNverse reason why the show will be set in a single location (Sioux Falls) instead of moving around. Rhymes with “Hellmouth,” I’ll bet. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion it’s to do with the rip between universes in that crappy old boat from 12.09.

The show is currently averaging a 0.6 in the demo, putting it second on the network and even with last season. Between this and the resurgence of Riverdale, the CW is the only broadcast network that has not dropped in average demo since last season.

The show had a repeat last week that came in at 0.2/1 in the demo (0.246 in the unrounded overnights) and 1.03 million in audience in the overnights. It was preempted by holiday programming during Christmas week.

Like this column? You can help keep it going by contributing monthly via Patreon (which includes perks), making a one-time donation through Paypal, or buying us a coffee.

We need your help!

Contribute monthly via Patreon (which includes perks), make a one-time donation through Paypal, or buy us a coffee. Want more of my recaps and reviews? Check out The Supernatural Codex: Season 1, out on Kindle and in print.

[lots o’ spoilers ahead]

While this episode was by no means perfect, I’m happy to report my relief when I first watched it that it was not half as boring as the previous one, albeit it ran a trifle long in some spots (it was only about two minutes over the usual time, but some of that dragged a bit). I was also pleased to find, despite some serious flaws in the character’s central conflict, that I rather liked Patience and the actress who played her. This was a very good thing. After “Rising Son,” I was beginning to wonder if it was time to hang it up with this show.

I was also happy to discover that even though this was the first of the lead-up episodes to the backdoor pilot for the new spin-off, Wayward Sisters, it had a fair bit of conflict and action involving Sam and Dean, who each had a storyline this week. Last season suffered greatly from Sam and Dean: Guest Stars in Their Own Show Syndrome. So far this season, that’s been greatly alleviated, at least for Jensen Ackles, who’s not fielding any newborns at home this year.

The funniest (and most reassuring in terms of how the new show will go over with fans) thing is that everyone has a different favorite. They like Claire, but they hate Patience. They like Kaia, but they hate Alex. They think Jody and Donna should be Hunting, but just together and not with any younger charges. Nobody can agree except that a lot of fans have already picked a favorite, if only in relation to at least one other character they feel shouldn’t be on the show. This indicates that fans in general have already got past the initial phase of accepting the overall concept of a group of women Hunting together and mentoring each other. They just can’t agree on which characters they think should be in that group. Considering most fans can’t really agree on liking Sam, Dean, Castiel, Crowley, and so on, even after 13 seasons, that’s a good sign for Wayward Sisters, not bad.

Which is not to say the episode (or even the new show’s franchise concept so far) lacks flaws. Missouri Moseley returns in this one. Remember her? Season one? Kripke-penned “Home”? Let me refresh your memory – she was an African American psychic who fawned over Sam a lot and smacked Dean upside the head for … uh … reasons. Or something. That Missouri.

Now, obviously, there was some unfinished business between her and the Brothers, so you could say she had a reason to come back. Was this addressed? Nope. Sam doesn’t even see Missouri this time round. He’s too busy babysitting Jack for more than a quick phone call, and he and Dean have a fight over just sending Jody to deal with it before Dean goes off to help her. Dean gets no apology or even acknowledgement of any kind from her about her previous treatment of him (though she does commiserate with him on his “recent losses,” which she senses in his mind, so there’s that). In fact, when he makes the logical protest to her staying behind (while there’s a psychic-eating monster on the loose), Missouri’s Inner Bitch comes roaring out. Consider those loose ends still dangling.

Anyway, she’s only there to introduce a younger, prettier psychic, her granddaughter Patience. God forbid the CW have an older, gifted female (let alone an older female PoC) character as a main lead. I didn’t love the way Missouri was fridged to jumpstart the title character’s story.

It bothered me that not only were the two PoC female leads for Wayward Sisters introduced very late in the day, but they were introduced in a fundamentally different way from that of Claire and Alex, who were introduced as victims of the supernatural (like Sam, Dean, Jody and Donna), rather than as essentially supernatural beings (like Patience and Kaia). Also, the CW has an extremely poor track record with PoC female characters with powers, wherein they end up powerful handmaidens to white girls. Bonnie from The Vampire Diaries fairly leaps to mind here.

Not helping is the way Patience’s father, James, is portrayed. It’s one thing to be introduced to the supernatural world in a traumatic way. A lot of people will go straight to denial, initially, as the show has demonstrated many times. But James was raised in the Life. He knows the supernatural exists. Hell, he can even work divination magic. He just wants to stick his head in the sand, even if it gets his mother and daughter killed.

The thing is that if you read between the lines (and remember how Missouri was introduced almost 12 seasons ago), there’s plenty of reason for James to resent his mother. Missouri dragged him along with her on down the road to Hunting supernatural things and it seems pretty clear that it traumatized him. The catalyst for their final estrangement may have been Missouri’s cocky miscalculation about the fate of his wife (Patience’s mother), but it’s clear a lot of bad things happened before that.

But the writing wants us to believe that James is the bad guy here. Since the episode never addresses the stark contrast in how Missouri treated Sam (with powers) and Dean (no powers as far she could see) in season one, it neatly avoids addressing the pretty stark contrast between Missouri’s treatment of James her son (no apparent powers) and Patience her granddaughter (practically a Mary Sue). Missouri is a bigot when it comes to plain, old, ordinary humans. It’s therefore a tad difficult to believe the episode’s portrayal of James – a man old enough to have a teenage daughter and successful enough to be raising her in a safe, nurturing, upper-middle-class environment – as too immature to forgive his saintly mother.

It doesn’t help that the episode is wildly inconsistent in portraying Missouri and Patience’s talents. Dean tells Jody that Missouri can read objects, but what we actually see her do, for the most part, is read minds to a limited extent and foretell the future in blurry images. That’s not reading the past from objects, Show. Reading objects is a different ESP talent.

Also, we’re apparently supposed to get the idea from that that she is able to foretell her and the MOTW’s futures enough to determine that she can’t escape the MOTW, at least not without endangering her family (she specifically sees James, but then talks about Patience to him). How is this even possible when you have two new variables – Dean and Jody – in the equation? That smacks of overly convenient writing. You’d think Missouri would have learned from the mistake she made in predicting the fate of James’ wife/Patience’s mom that her powers are not infallible, but nope.

In addition, the family member who ends up in immediate danger is Patience, not James. Patience is threatened by the MOTW immediately after he kills her grandmother. It seems he was able to kill Missouri, and then zip past Dean and Jody to attack Patience before they could even contact James. I call shenanigans on that timing.

In fact, I call shenanigans on that whole MOTW, but let’s finish talking about Patience’s powers, first. Patience initially has a dream that warns her of both her grandmother’s death and the MOTW’s attack on her later at the school. This dream seems to be a mix of literal precognition (the attack) and metaphor (her grandmother’s ghost warning her). Okay, this is a dream we’re talking about, so a little funky logic is acceptable.

But then, after she’s captured, Patience has a prolonged waking vision of her father, Jody and then Dean being killed, which allows her to warn each of them about the MOTW’s attack. But this is a different kind of precog from what she previously showed and all three types are different from what Missouri had.

This may seem like nitpicking, but if you look at how Sam’s precog was shown in the first two seasons, it’s very consistent and that’s pretty important to the story. He has quick flashes, usually of something fatal happening, accompanied by nasty headaches. If he acts on them, he is usually able to stop the event from happening, though something else bad may happen, instead. Sometimes, he has dreams. Less often, he has waking visions. But they are always the same kind of thing.

Precog and even telepathy are shown similarly for other characters such as Psykids like Ava (in “Hunted”) and Andy (sending Dean a vision in “All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1”), and even Chuck in “The Monster at the End of This Book.” We also have a clear origin for these visions. The Psykids apparently get theirs from Azazel, while Chuck gets them from the angels. Yes, I know we later find out Chuck is God, but his conversation with Zachariah at the end of that episode makes it clear the angels are sending him visions. Maybe they’re even sending them to the Psykids. Who knows? But the point is that these visions of the future don’t just pop up out of nowhere.

Missouri and Patience’s visions do, which means they’re much more malleable and “magical” in the sense of being overly convenient writing divorced from the logic of the worldbuilding. The characters don’t have these visions because the visions make sense in the context of the story. They have them just to move the story along.

Now let’s check out the MOTW. Unfortunately, whoever made up the recap spoiled the crap out of the MOTW “surprise” (admittedly, that cat came right out of the bag in the teaser, anyway), which is that the MOTW was a Wraith. I don’t think a Wraith was the right MOTW for what the episode wanted to do and the actor they got was definitely not right to convey what they wanted. Or maybe he was, which kinda makes it worse.

Now, the Wraith’s targeting psychics was fine, as far as it went. We know Wraiths like to feed on a specific kind of human, often a “soft” target that can’t fight back very well. And therein lies the problem. The Wraith we first met in “Sam, Interrupted” in season five was working at a psych hospital, targeting patients. If they weren’t psychotic when they came in, they sure were by the time the Wraith was ready to feed on them. The Wraith possessed a toxin, spread via touch, that made people psychotic. This particular Wraith actually enjoyed the taste of brains under extreme psychological distress and played an Angel of Mercy to get them. Subsequent mentions of them followed a similar pattern.

Aside from targeting those who generally can’t fight back very well (psychics, who are otherwise ordinary humans), the Wraith in “Patience” follows none of these rules. He doesn’t bother to poison or weaken his targets. He simply attacks them and overpowers them.

He doesn’t treat them as food, either. The actor who plays the Wraith plays feeding as a straight-up sexual serial-killing thing, which is not how the Wraith in “Sam, Interrupted” acted. The Wraith in “Patience” attacks women, specifically, and creeps all over them. The Wraith in “Sam, Interrupted” attacked different types of people, which actually made it scarier because it was hard to see a pattern at first, let alone who could be the Wraith. You couldn’t see it coming.

In “Patience,” we know right away. There’s no mystery about it whatsoever, especially since there is no attempt to give any backstory to the MOTW aside from where he got his predilection for psychic brains. It’s all very CW. In a bad way.

And it also means that the Wraith is way overpowered for this type of MOTW. I can see him taking out James, maybe even Jody, if he got lucky. But Dean? On top of the other two? Nope. Not the organized and well-armed way they came in.

Now, if the writers had used an MOTW that was known for being fast and strong, I might buy that. A Vampire or a Shapeshifter or a Djinn I could see. Or if they’d argued that this was the Alpha Wraith, maybe. But as it was, I didn’t buy this particular MOTW, or his ability to fight and evade and take down healthy human prey.

Hell, even Patience was able to break off the Wraith’s stinger (the way Dean did in “Sam, Interrupted,” albeit while barely able to stay upright due to being poisoned). Not exactly an intimidating monster. I just didn’t buy that he could take Dean at full strength, let alone Dean on top of Jody and James. And if the MOTW wasn’t that dangerous, that makes Patience’s precog flashes rather silly and unnecessary to the plot.

I got the impression that we were supposed to have the usual balance of opinions between Sam and Dean this week, where Sam was on one side and Dean on the other, and we were supposed to see both sides as having merit. Which was sort of true if you squinted, but only because the writing kept Telling us Dean’s judgement was off, while actually Showing something a bit different.

For a start, not only is Dean in character for telling Patience at the end to grab as much Normal as she can, but he’s right. Hunting never ends well for the Hunter. As Dean has put it many different ways in the past, “it ends bloody or sad … you’re covered in blood until you’re covered in your own blood.”

So, when Jody tells Patience that Dean’s wrong and that if Patience wants to get into the Life and use her “gift,” she can call her, I just want to suggest that Jody first tell Patience why she lived alone in a big, old, empty house before she took in Claire and Alex. Gee, whatever happened to her husband and son? Patience deserves to hear that story before she makes her decision.

Yes, the supernatural world is the real world on this show. Yes, once you become aware of it, you see it everywhere. Even worse, it becomes aware of you. But step into the shadows, engage too closely, and your projected lifespan drops like a stone.

Dean’s not wrong (neither is James, really). It’s just very hard to get away from the supernatural world once you get plunged into it.

Then there’s Sam’s “training” of Jack. Points, at least, for the show having Sam remember that he used to be psychic, too … sort of. Sam talks about being different when he was younger and worrying about having a “darkness” inside him, that Dean and Castiel helped him fight it, so there’s that. But then Sam proceeds (as he always has) to make it All About Sam and try to push Jack into learning more about his powers, even though it’s really obvious that Jack is afraid to use them.

Now, Jack does mention Dean saying he’s evil, but he also brings up the reasons why Dean feels that way and agrees with them. He did kill his mother by being born. He has hurt people. He has lost control of his powers. He even mentions feeling Asmodeus in his mind, pushing him and coopting his powers, during his attempt to raise the Shedim the previous episode. But what Sam mostly latches onto (as he very belatedly decides to stop pushing Jack) is that Jack is afraid of Dean (despite being physically invulnerable), not that Sam is doing pretty much the same thing to Jack that Asmodeus did and for equally selfish reasons – and that this bothers Jack a whole lot.

When Dean gets back, the hints throughout the episode that all is not well with him (such as Jody holding him back when he starts to ream James out for lying to Patience) come to a head. Sam calls Dean on being so harsh to Jack and threatening him (even though Dean’s been very upfront about that, so it should hardly be a surprise to Sam).

To the writers’ credit, they do have Dean finally calling Sam out right back on Sam’s less-than-altruistic motives for getting Jack to learn how to control his powers, saying that Sam doesn’t really care about Jack. He just wants to use Jack’s powers to get Mary back, using Jack as “an interdimensional can opener.” And there isn’t a whole in this episode that contradicts Dean on that point.

Dean would never come out and say this, but Sam’s example of himself as a person Dean saved in spite of Sam’s being a “freak” is also a poor one – Sam hurt a lot of people because Dean didn’t kill him. Not that the angels and demons would have allowed Sam to stay dead, but still.

In the end, Dean can’t hold back. His barely leashed pain and rage pour out as he yells that he “can’t even look at the kid” because he blames Jack directly for losing Mary and Castiel.

Unfortunately, he does that as Jack is listening nearby (which seems uncharacteristically dumb). This accidentally sparks Jack’s powers as Jack spontaneously tries to do something “good” and also reaches out to his foster daddy, Castiel. In the process, Castiel wakes up someplace dark and weird.

But that’s for next time.

Next: The Big Empty: While trying to figure out who is killing a grief counselor’s patients, the Brothers and Jack end up in family therapy. Meanwhile, Castiel wakes up somewhere dark and strange.

We need your help!

My collected recaps and reviews of season one, which first appeared on Innsmouth Free Press, are now up (with a few extras) on Kindle. The print version is also up, though the cover’s needing a little tweaking right now. I’ll be putting up corrections for the cover in the next day or so. Everything else looks good.

My live recap for episode 13.09 is up. During the Christmas Hellatus, I’ll be catching up on my reviews for this season. Hope everyone will be rewatching “A Very Supernatural Christmas” from season three. I do that every year on or around Christmas.

Season 13 titlessofar: “Lost and Found” (13.01), synopsis and photos, promo, preview, sneak peeks, and Shaving People, Punting Things, as well as live recap and review; “The Rising Son” (13.02) synopsis and photos and promo; “Patience” (the first spinoff set-up episode) (13.03) synopsis; “The Big Empty” (13.04) synopsis, promo and official photos; “Advanced Thanatology” (13.05) synopsis, photos and promo; “Tombstone” (13.06) synopsis, promo and photos; “War of the Worlds” (13.07) synopsis photos, sneak peek and promo; “The Scorpion and the Frog” (13.08) synopsis, photos, promo and sneak peek; “The Bad Place” (13.09) (airing December 7) synopsis, photos, sneak peeks and promo; Christmas Break; “Wayward Sisters” (13.10, backdoor pilot for the spinoff, airs January 18), synopsis, photos, interviews and promo; “Various & Sundry Villains” (13.11) (previously called “The Midnight Train” and originally, the title was “Stakes on a Train,” though there also appears to have been a switch of episodes between 13.11 and 13.12), this or the next one (depending on which is the real 13.11) is supposed to be Donna-heavy; “Breakdown” (13.12) Rowena returns; “Devil’s Bargain” (13.13), written by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming, introducing Danneel Ackles as a faith healer named Sister Jo who is blackmailed by Lucifer, set photos here; “Only the Best Intentions” (13.14); “A Most Holy Man” (13.15); “ScoobyNatural” (13.16, cartoon episode, appears in March), “The Thing” (13.17); “Bring ’em Back Alive” (13.18).

Andrew Dabb claimed to TV Line that Dean’s conversation with Billie this season would have a follow-up down the road. Not really holding my breath, but hey, Dean’s storyline has lasted longer this season so far than last season. So, there’s that.

Danneel Ackles posted her first two set photos, one with her husband and one (rather character-spoilery) with Misha Collins.

A Shaving People Punting Things video came out with an extended blooper reel of Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles pranking Alexander Calvert (and Misha Collins, though Collins is kind of in on the pranks).

Warner Bros has announced details about the upcoming Wayward Sisters spin-off. As we already know, it will star Kim Rhodes (Jody Mills) and the rumor that Briana Buckmaster (Donna Hanscum) is in it was confirmed. Also starring will be Kathryn Newton (Claire Novak) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen), as well as new character Patience Turner (played by Clark Backo). Another new character, Kaia (Yadira Guevar-Prip), has been added to the main cast list. Kaia’s “gift” will be the ability to spirit travel.

The spin-off premise and new characters will be introduced via several episodes in season 13. Patience will be introduced in “Patience” (13.03), which also brings back season one character Missouri Moseley (who is Patience’s estranged grandmother and from whom Patience has inherited her psychic gift). The actual backdoor pilot will be “Wayward Sisters” (13.10).

Star Kim Rhodes told EW that there’s a good in-SPNverse reason why the show will be set in a single location (Sioux Falls) instead of moving around. Rhymes with “Hellmouth,” I’ll bet. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion it’s to do with the rip between universes in that crappy old boat from 12.09.

The show’s ratings for the winter finale (13.09) remained steady in the demo at 0.6/2 and up 10 thousand to 1.74 million in audience. The episode (got a 0.540 in the overnights and half-hours of 0.553 and 0.526, respectively.

The show had a repeat last week that came in at 0.2/1 in the demo (0.208 in the overnights) and 870 thousand in audience.

The Live+7 ratings for “The Scorpion and the Frog” (13.08) rose from 0.6 to 1.0 in the demo and from 1.746 to 2.829 million, while Christmas finale “The Bad Place” (13.09) rose from 0.5 to 1.0 and from 1.702 to 2.629 million.

Like this column? You can help keep it going by contributing monthly via Patreon (which includes perks), making a one-time donation through Paypal, or buying us a coffee.

We need your help!

My collected recaps and reviews of season one, which first appeared on Innsmouth Free Press, are now up (with a few extras) on Kindle. The Kindle version is available through Amazon. The print version is also up, though the cover’s needing a little tweaking right now. I’ve ordered a copy for a final galley proof to make any changes that don’t show up online (KDP doesn’t let you do that before the book goes live because KDP works for Satan).

My live recap for episode 13.07 is up. I will be doing the next one at 8pm Friday (tomorrow) night, EST. During the Christmas Hellatus (which starts after tonight), I’ll be catching up on my reviews for this season.

Alexander Calvert gave a brief interview about how the question of whether or not Jack is evil or good will be (temporarily) answered tonight. [Sigh] I am so over this stupid storyline. The final Wayward Sister, Kaia, will be introduced this week (she looks pretty dire). There’s also a cliffhanger. I know. I was shocked, too.

There are some photos up from the backdoor pilot for the spin-off, “Wayward Sisters” (13.10).

For some odd reason, there was a flurry of casting and character return news last Friday. The biggest is that Danneel Ackles, Jensen Ackles’ wife, has been cast in a recurring role starting with episode 13.13. Fandom predictably imploded over this, since the poor woman has been the target of much resentment from the more overly invested saltgunners for years. Personally, I liked her in Ten-Inch Hero and think she had good on-screen chemistry with her then-future-husband. Also, making it a family affair means her husband still seems invested in the show and settling in for more of the long haul. This makes it good news for the show getting a few more seasons. So, I’m looking forward to it. My only big concern about it is that the character is being created by the Nepotism Duo, but I guess we’ll see.

In other news, Ruth Connell was spotted on-set recently in costume, confirming rumors that Rowena will be back in 13.12.

Warner Bros has announced details about the upcoming Wayward Sisters spin-off. As we already know, it will star Kim Rhodes (Jody Mills) and the rumor that Briana Buckmaster (Donna Hanscum) is in it was confirmed. Also starring will be Kathryn Newton (Claire Novak) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen), as well as new character Patience Turner (played by Clark Backo). Another new character, Kaia (Yadira Guevar-Prip), has been added to the main cast list. Kaia’s “gift” will be the ability to spirit travel.

The spin-off premise and new characters will be introduced via several episodes in season 13. Patience will be introduced in “Patience” (13.03), which also brings back season one character Missouri Moseley (who is Patience’s estranged grandmother and from whom Patience has inherited her psychic gift). The actual backdoor pilot will be “Wayward Sisters” (13.10).

Star Kim Rhodes told EW that there’s a good in-SPNverse reason why the show will be set in a single location (Sioux Falls) instead of moving around. Rhymes with “Hellmouth,” I’ll bet.

The count for Supernatural calendars for 2018 is now five: a charity calendar called If I Could Tell You: The Women of Supernaturalthat still has a few left from its campaign (I got it today; it’s quite nice and sturdy, despite the post office’s attempts to crumple it into a rolled-up ball in my mailbox), two large calendars out on July 1, two mini calendars on September 1, and a Creation Entertainment calendar that comes out on December 1.

The show’s ratings last week rose again from the zombie turkey apocalypse of Thanksgiving to a 0.6/2 and 1.73 million in audience. The show (got a 0.537 in the overnights and half-hours of 0.573 and 0.502, respectively.

No ratings news for the previous week, but Thanksgiving Week had a huge leap for Live+7, with “War of the Worlds” (13.07) rising a whopping 167% in demo to a 0.8 and 98% from 1.241 to 2.452 million in audience (Arrow had a similar rise, though its audience remained below Supernatural. Still a bit anemic for the show’s usual delayed numbers but quite respectable for the CW, especially over a holiday weekend.

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Paula’s collected recaps and reviews of season one, which first appeared on Innsmouth Free Press, are now up (with a few extras) on Kindle as The Supernatural Codex: Season 1, with the print version to be available in the next few days. The Kindle version is currently free through December 1 on Amazon.

The show goes on Christmas Hellatus after the December 7 episode will return on January 18 with the Wayward Sisters backdoor pilot.

My live recap for episode 13.07 is up. I will be doing the next one at 8pm Friday (tomorrow) night, EST.

Apologies for getting behind on my reviews. I have been busy preparing two books for publication before Christmas, a cookbook my mom created years ago of recipes from various members of our family and the long-promised collection of Supernatural: Season One reviews. Both will come out in Kindle and print.

Warner Bros has announced details about the upcoming Wayward Sisters spin-off. As we already know, it will star Kim Rhodes (Jody Mills) and the rumor that Briana Buckmaster (Donna Hanscum) is in it was confirmed. Also starring will be Kathryn Newton (Claire Novak) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen), as well as new character Patience Turner (played by Clark Backo). Another new character, Kaia (Yadira Guevar-Prip), has been added to the main cast list. Kaia’s “gift” will be the ability to spirit travel.

The spin-off premise and new characters will be introduced via several episodes in season 13. Patience will be introduced in “Patience” (13.03), which also brings back season one character Missouri Moseley (who is Patience’s estranged grandmother and from whom Patience has inherited her psychic gift). The actual backdoor pilot will be “Wayward Sisters” (13.10).

Star Kim Rhodes told EW that there’s a good in-SPNverse reason why the show will be set in a single location (Sioux Falls) instead of moving around. Rhymes with “Hellmouth,” I’ll bet.

The show’s ratings last week were predictably awful. It got a 0.3/1 and 1.24 million in audience, easily an all-time low for an original episode. If it makes anybody feel any better, Arrow did even worse. The show (got a 0.334 in the overnight and half-hours of 0.347 and 0.321.

Ratings news was rosier for Live+7, where “Advanced Thanatology” (13.05) rose from 1.706 to 2.707 million in audience.

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Putting out a column on Thanksgiving Day may seem like an exercise in futility, but we kinda have to do one, since a new episode, “War of the Worlds” (13.07), is coming out tonight. It’s a Nepotism Duo special, so it looks as though the show is burying it here for a reason. Sure, there have been some fan favorites that aired in dire slots on holidays (“Frontierland” airing on Maundy Thursday springs to mind), with predictable ratings results. But with the writing duo in question, we should probably keep our expectations low. Very low.

My live recap for episode 13.06 is up. I will be doing the next one at 8pm Friday (tomorrow) night, EST.

Apologies for getting behind on my reviews. I have been busy preparing two books for publication before Christmas, a cookbook my mom created years ago of recipes from various members of our family and the long-promised collection of Supernatural: Season One reviews. Both will come out in Kindle and print. I’m shooting for the end of Thanksgiving weekend on the Kindle version (hopefully).

For Supernatural, I’ve decided on the bridge cover for season one and the creepy room one (somewhat modified) for season two. Many thanks for everyone’s feedback. It’s much appreciated.

JACK AND KAIA DISRUPT THE WORLD – Jack (Alexander Calvert), desperate to prove to Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) that he is good and that he can control his powers, enlists the help of a dreamcatcher named Kaia (guest star Yadira Guevara-Prip) to help him find Mary Winchester (guest star Samantha Smith) and save her from the alternate universe. However, when plans go awry, the Winchester brothers are the ones who need saving. Phil Sgriccia directed the episode written by Robert Berens (#1309). Original airdate 12/7/2017.

This last episode before Christmas is the introduction for Kaia, the last of the new characters for the spin-off (the next episode will be the spin-off, which will kick off the show’s return from Christmas Hellatus in January). To be honest, it sounds pretty stupid, but Patience’s intro didn’t sound so hot on paper and she turned out okay, so fingers crossed.

Alexander Calvert (Jack) gave a brief interview about how Jack will try to redeem himself with TFW2.0 by rescuing Mary from the Hell Dimension.

Warner Bros has announced details about the upcoming Wayward Sisters spin-off. As we already know, it will star Kim Rhodes (Jody Mills) and the rumor that Briana Buckmaster (Donna Hanscum) is in it was confirmed. Also starring will be Kathryn Newton (Claire Novak) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen), as well as new character Patience Turner (played by Clark Backo). Another new character, Kaia (Yadira Guevar-Prip), has been added to the main cast list. Kaia’s “gift” will be the ability to spirit travel.

The spin-off premise and new characters will be introduced via several episodes in season 13. Patience will be introduced in “Patience” (13.03), which also brings back season one character Missouri Moseley (who is Patience’s estranged grandmother and from whom Patience has inherited her psychic gift). The actual backdoor pilot will be “Wayward Sisters” (13.10).

Star Kim Rhodes told EW that there’s a good in-SPNverse reason why the show will be set in a single location (Sioux Falls) instead of moving around. Rhymes with “Hellmouth,” I’ll bet.

We rarely get a look at how much Supernatural really makes for its studio, but this recent article opens the door wide, as does this one. It turns out show creator Eric Kripke is sueing Warner Bros for a share of the profits, citing their Hollywood Accounting for underpaying him his cut. $570 million, people – that’s how much this show made in its first eight seasons alone. And that’s what the studio is admitting to. These arbitration proceedings should turn out to be awfully interesting for us fans, but don’t expect Kripke back with the show any time soon as a result. Oddly, this slipped under the fandom radar when it first came out last week.

The show stayed at second place on the network again last week, Castiel’s return bringing a rise to a 0.7/2 (up from a 0.647 and half-hours of 0.679, 0.614 in the overnights) and 1.89 million in audience. This once again put it firmly in second place in the demo, though tying with Supergirl in audience.

No new DVR news this week for the show.

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My live recap for episode 13.05 is up. I will be doing the next one at 8pm Friday (tomorrow) night, EST.

Apologies for getting behind on my reviews. I have been busy getting two books ready for publication before Christmas, a cookbook my mom created years ago of recipes from various members of our family and the long-promised collection of Supernatural: Season One reviews. Both will come out in Kindle and print. I’m shooting for the end of Thanksgiving weekend on the Kindle version. For Supernatural, I have a few possible covers. Please feel free to comment on which one you like best or how they could be improved:

THE BIG HEIST – Feeling as if they are running out of options, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) agree to steal a mysterious trunk belonging to a demon named Barthamus (guest star David Cubitt), in exchange for a locater spell the Winchesters can use to track down Jack. Robert Singer directed the episode written by Meredith Glynn (#1308). Original airdate 11/30/2017.

JACK AND KAIA DISRUPT THE WORLD – Jack (Alexander Calvert), desperate to prove to Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) that he is good and that he can control his powers, enlists the help of a dreamcatcher named Kaia (guest star Yadira Guevara-Prip) to help him find Mary Winchester (guest star Samantha Smith) and save her from the alternate universe. However, when plans go awry, the Winchester brothers are the ones who need saving. Phil Sgriccia directed the episode written by Robert Berens (#1309). Original airdate 12/7/2017.

This is the last episode of 2017 (i.e., before the Christmas break) and introduces the final main character in the spin-off, Kaia.

Misha Collins gave a brief interview about Castiel’s reunion with Jack this week. He spoke more at length about it with TV Line and also gave a somewhat longer interview with EW.

Warner Bros has announced details about the upcoming Wayward Sisters spin-off. As we already know, it will star Kim Rhodes (Jody Mills) and the rumor that Briana Buckmaster (Donna Hanscum) is in it was confirmed. Also starring will be Kathryn Newton (Claire Novak) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen), as well as new character Patience Turner (played by Clark Backo). Another new character, Kaia (Yadira Guevar-Prip), has been added to the main cast list (she first appears in 13.09). Kaia’s “gift” will be the ability to spirit travel.

The spin-off premise and new characters will be introduced via several episodes in season 13. Patience was introduced in “Patience” (13.03), which also brings back season one character Missouri Moseley (who is Patience’s estranged grandmother and from whom Patience has inherited her psychic gift). The actual backdoor pilot will be “Wayward Sisters” (13.10).

Star Kim Rhodes told EW that there’s a good in-SPNverse reason why the show will be set in a single location (Sioux Falls) instead of moving around. Rhymes with “Hellmouth,” I’ll bet.

The count for Supernatural calendars for 2018 is now four: a charity calendar called If I Could Tell You: The Women of Supernaturalthat just ended its campaign, two large calendars out on July 1 and two mini calendars on September 1.

The show stayed at second place on the network again last week with a 0.6/2 (rounded up from a 0.596 and half-hours of 0.601, 0.590) and dipping slightly in audience to 1.71 million. This once again put it firmly in second place, though Supergirl got a somewhat higher audience.

So far this season (up through episode 13.03, Live+3), Supernatural has only cracked the top 25 DVR ratings twice. For the season premiere, it rose from a 0.7 to 1.0 in the Live+3 A18-49 demo and from 2.107 million to 2.819 million in Live+3 audience. For 13.03 (“Patience”), it rose from a 0.6 to a 1.1 in the Live+7 A18-49 demo. This is good news for the spin-off, indicating people continued to sample the episode over the week after its live debut.

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THE RACE IS ON TO FIND JACK – As Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) continue their search for Jack (Alexander Calvert), with Asmodeus (guest star Jeffrey Vincent Parise) hot on their trail, they stumble across a familiar foe. Meanwhile, Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino) manages to escape Michael’s (guest star Christian Keyes) grasp and finds himself an unlikely and mostly unwilling ally. The episode directed by Richard Speight, Jr. was written by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming (#1307). Original airdate 11/23/2017.

Much as I like RSJ, this is another Nepotism Duo special, so it’s pretty much guaranteed to be dull and almost certainly terrible. The synopsis certainly sounds busy enough, which means talktalktalk to avoid busting the budget. I guess that explains why it’s airing Thanksgiving Day. No, I am not kidding.

Warner Bros has announced details about the upcoming Wayward Sisters spin-off. As we already know, it will star Kim Rhodes (Jody Mills) and the rumor that Briana Buckmaster (Donna Hanscum) is in it was confirmed. Also starring will be Kathryn Newton (Claire Novak) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen), as well as new character Patience Turner (played by Clark Backo). Another new character, Kaia (Yadira Guevar-Prip), has been added to the main cast list. Kaia’s “gift” will be the ability to spirit travel.

The spin-off premise and new characters will be introduced via several episodes in season 13. Patience will be introduced in “Patience” (13.03), which also brings back season one character Missouri Moseley (who is Patience’s estranged grandmother and from whom Patience has inherited her psychic gift). The actual backdoor pilot will be “Wayward Sisters” (13.10).

The count for Supernatural calendars for 2018 is now four: a charity calendar called If I Could Tell You: The Women of Supernatural, taking orders now (for one more day), two large calendars out on July 1 and two mini calendars on September 1.

The show stayed at second place on the network again last week staying at 0.6/2 and dipping slightly in audience to 1.82 million. Again, while Riverdale got the same rounded demo, it only pulled an unrounded 0.567 to Supernatural‘s 0.631 (0.628 in the first half-hour up to 0.633 in the second) in the overnights, and dipped to 1.51 million in audience in the finals.

More significantly, though Supernatural does tend to bounce around a little, Riverdale dropped, while Supernatural went up a bit in demo. The network has been promoting Riverdale heavily since this past summer and it appeared to work, at least for a while. But it seems that the show can’t hold its audience. Should be interesting to see where it ends up next spring, considering how low it dropped last spring.

Supernatural, meanwhile, remains safe as houses.

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GO AHEAD … MAKE MY DAY – Castiel (Misha Collins) is reunited with Jack (Alexander Calvert) and together with Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles), they head to a sleepy old western town to investigate a murder. Dean gets to live out his boyhood fantasy when he comes face to face with a famous, gun-slinging outlaw. Nina Lopez-Corrado directed the episode written by Davy Perez (#1306). Original airdate 11/16/2017.

Warner Bros has announced details about the upcoming Wayward Sisters spin-off. As we already know, it will star Kim Rhodes (Jody Mills) and the rumor that Briana Buckmaster (Donna Hanscum) is in it was confirmed. Also starring will be Kathryn Newton (Claire Novak) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen), as well as new character Patience Turner (played by Clark Backo). Another new character, Kaia (Yadira Guevar-Prip), has been added to the main cast list. Kaia’s “gift” will be the ability to spirit travel.

The spin-off premise and new characters will be introduced via several episodes in season 13. Patience will be introduced in “Patience” (13.03), which also brings back season one character Missouri Moseley (who is Patience’s estranged grandmother and from whom Patience has inherited her psychic gift). The actual backdoor pilot will be “Wayward Sisters” (13.10).

The count for Supernatural calendars for 2018 is now four: a charity calendar called If I Could Tell You: The Women of Supernatural, taking orders now, two large calendars out on July 1 and two mini calendars on September 1.

The show stayed at second place on the network last week by dipping to a 0.6/2 and going up slightly in audience to 1.93 million. While Riverdale got the same rounded demo, it only pulled a 0.602 to Supernatural‘s 0.609 (0.625 in the first half-hour to 0.593 in the second) and only clocked 1.62 million in audience, which is nothing to crow about.

The half-hours for Supernatural dipped from 0.6/3 and 1.98 million to 0.6/2 and 1.87 million. Considering this was the first preview of the backdoor pilot, that’s not too bad.

In Twitter activity, the show came in second for the night, behind the Latin American Music Awards.

Like this column? You can help keep it going by contributing monthly via Patreon (which includes perks), making a one-time donation through Paypal, or buying us a coffee.